It’s hot out west right now. Temps are in the 80s and 90s for a good portion of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies where they were dealing with 40s and 50s a few days ago. This heat will expand into the northern Plains where 100+ degree readings are possible later this week. Beyond that, the heat will expand east as a large ridge develops across the eastern United States just in time for the weekend. As it looks right now, this ridge will have some staying power with it keeping us locked into a summer-like pattern for a good 6-10 day stretch. Here’s how we’re expecting temps to shake out the next 5 days:

How hot are we thinking? Here’s our forecasted high temps the next 5 days:

We’re not alone. Much of the eastern and northern US will be above average:

We’ll see when the ridge breaks down–it usually takes a cold front in Canada to push some cooler air into the US. As of now it looks like that breakdown may occur sometime mid to late next week. We’ll also have to watch some moisture with a low coming out of the Gulf. Either one will bring us storm chances and cooler temps. Stay tuned!